Dr Sara Shirowzhan is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Built Environment. ScholarGPS 2025 benchmarking positions her research within the top 1% of researchers globally in key specialties, including Digital Twin and Smart City research, the top 2% in Informatics, the top 7% in Machine Learning, and the top 8% in Sustainability, reflecting recognised international leadership in highly competitive fields.

Dr Shirowzhan’s research has informed policy and practice, including citation in NSW Government policy documents, and has received significant external recognition through major awards, such as the Outstanding Paper Award from the International Society for Digital Earth.

Her research focuses on technologies relevant to the built environment, including AI, advanced GIS, nD BIM, sensing technologies, and digital twins, with applications in sustainable and resilient cities (SDG 11), smart cities, infrastructure, urban strategy development, and construction.

Dr Shirowzhan teaches and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate students in City Analytics, GIS, Construction Informatics, and BIM‑related topics at UNSW.

She currently serves as an Editorial Board Member of the Q1 journals Nature/Scientific Reports, Sustainability (MDPI), and Buildings. Dr Shirowzhan has also served as UNSW Co‑Lead of the Work Integrated Learning Education Community of Practice and as Co‑Convenor of the Smart Cities and Infrastructure Cluster in the School of Built Environment.